Soulful Speaking with Lauri Smith

Join renowned speaker, author, and intuitive public speaking and leadership coach, Lauri Smith, in this inspiring episode. Lauri specializes in empowering sensitive visionaries, ambitious empaths, and loving rebels to embrace their unique wildness while creating a significant impact on the world. Her mission is to foster open-hearted leaders who fearlessly contribute to positive change with authenticity, creativity, and courage. In her conversation with Jeni, Lauri delves into the art of shifting from speaking from the head to speaking from the heart. Discover the power of having a vision and dreaming of a better world, and learn how to creatively navigate from the present towards turning those dreams into reality. Join them as they explore the vulnerability of expressing oneself in a different, transformative way that inspires others to join the journey towards global harmony.

For the links mentioned in the show, visit: thelifeadventurist.com

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Travel, life and fun listening tothe Life at Interess podcast Safe What Radio.
Welcome to another episode of the Lifeadventurest Podcast. I'm Jenny Hollow,
your host, and I am sograteful that you are joining here with me

(00:26):
today, whether it be on audiowith a podcast or on video because whenever
I have guests, we have avideo on YouTube, so you can also
watch this on YouTube for your ownwhatever it is you choose. So the
Life Adventures podcast is a place whereI love to explore all different things related
to spirituality, adventure, living yourbest life. I mean, there's so

(00:49):
many different directions we could go,and I'm so excited to bring on a
little bit different of a topic today. This is one that's very near and
dear to my heart because if youdon't, I don't know. I did
spend a bit of time in myentrepreneurial journey where I was basically wanting to
do the speaker thing, a speakerauthor coach. I went to all kinds

(01:11):
of trainings and I was fully involved. If you've really been around me for
a long time, you knew thatI was part of the Keynote, which
was every positive reality TV show conceptthat was led by Delatora McNeil, where
we were like all competing to seewho would win the title and it was
you wholesome. And so you know, I've done some of those things from

(01:33):
a place and I really came toa space where I became quite let's just
say, burnt out from some ofthat experience. And I know that a
big part of my path and myjourney is going to be speaking and sharing
and getting out there from a differentplace. So when I met our guest
today, Lorie that I was like, WHOA, Okay, hold on,

(01:55):
I knew there was a different wayto do this, and I just I
don't know. I guess I justhadn't really looked for it, and the
universe brought her into my life.And so before I share more about that,
let me just give you a littlebit of a background on what we're
going to talk about today, becausewe're gonna talk about like getting out of
We're gonna talk about like getting outof them laughing because the words I'm gonna

(02:16):
say, I feel like, a'rejust so funny in some ways, but
like getting out of Like I talkabout how I don't really like bro marketing
and I just hate the bro marketingbullshit. Well, let's just say this
is the bro speaking bullshit that we'restepping away from and really stepping more into
a soul full way of sharing yourmessage and getting your message out there.
So Laurie is a speaker, butLaurie Smith's do you have a full name?

(02:39):
Laurie Smith is a speaker, author, and intuitive public speaking and leadership
coach. She helps and I lovethese words, It's so perfect for this
podcast. She helps sensitive visionaries,ambitious and pass and loving rebels to own
their wacky wildness while having a seriousimpact. She is the CBO Caring Visionary

(03:01):
Officer, which when I first sawthat, I was like, was it?
Chief Voice Officer? I was reallycurious of Voice Matters and the author
of Your Voice Matters, a guideto speaking soulfully when it counts. Her
mission is to call forth more openhearted leaders so they can do their part
to change the world with authenticity,creativity, and courage. She envisions a

(03:25):
world in which everyone shares the vibrationof their soul's purpose through their voices,
and together we reach global harmony.Laurie can always see the soul underneath the
static, which makes her really goodat motivating people to fight their inner demons
and find tremendous inner power. SoI am so excited to have this conversation

(03:51):
today, and I'm welcoming Laurie tothe podcast and to the video. Welcome
Maurie. Thank you so much,Jenny. So you know, I feel
like really called to say this rightnow before we really get in, because
as I was reading this your yourbio and like sharing a bit, I

(04:11):
have myself been working with Lorie.So if you know, if this is
your first time listening to a podcast, welcome you get to hear the new,
improved me and still a work inimprovement in the way that I'm sharing
and talking about messages. And alsoif you've been following along, it's likely
you've heard me like slow down andyou've felt more of pauses and more intentionality

(04:32):
and what I'm talking. And soLaurie and I have personally worked together,
so I am still a work inprogress in this journey. So I wanted
to share that, and I'm soexcited that she's here. So let me
just pause for a second and welcomeyou and give you a chance to share
your voice. Thank you so muchfor having me. I'm excited to be

(04:53):
here. I'm not I'm not reallysure what to say. I can launch
into my story of how I starteddoing what I'm doing today, if that's
kind of the direction you want togo. Yeah. Usually one of the
first questions I like to ask isreally, like, tell us a little
bit more about who you are?So cool, I read the bio.
You're amazing, you make this transformativechange, that's amazing. I want to

(05:15):
hear a little bit more about,like who you are, what do you
like to do? Ensure you canweave some of that inks. I'm sure
it's a big part of it.But yeah, just like give us like
the raw unedited version, the rawunedited version. I am an mpath and
sometimes that in my past meant someof my journey with speaking was to step

(05:43):
up to speak and like cry uncontrollablyand move through the tears in order to
get my voice out into the world. I have a background in theater.
My mother discovered me tending to beCindy Brady in the backyard when I was
seven years old and immediately took meto an acting class. And I did

(06:09):
that for a very long time,and I still act, and I often
tell people that I've spent my lifesorting out the gems from the world of
theater, from the crap, thedisempowering stuff, and the things that speakers
don't need to go anywhere near.And I really had huge breakthroughs in my

(06:39):
late twenties early thirties when I wasworking at a place called the Sideways Studio
in San Francisco. And at thatpoint, I was like, you know,
armored up and protected, and Ihad these masks coming from corporate America,
like the I'm fine mask with lotsand lots of jaw attention. And

(07:01):
I remember doing a scene once inthat class where I started crying during the
scene and everybody else in class wasreally impressed. And Richard whipped his glasses
off and he looked a little dumbfounded, and he mentioned that my sensitivity is

(07:24):
a huge gift at that time,in particular as an actor, but I
wasn't leading with it. I washiding behind and leading with my mind.
And he said, both are areally powerful combination for an actor, but
you're protecting yourself, you're leading withthe one that feels safe, when it's

(07:46):
the combination that makes you you andmakes you really unique. And I started
owning my sensitivity first as an actorand then eventually realized in speaking. This
is also it's actually a superpower becauseI can I can feel what's going on
for people in the room, whichmakes them feel heard even when I'm the

(08:11):
one speaking, and some more uneditedstuff because I got all passionate there.
I love pale pink, like palerthan our markers, which as a tomboy
was like a huge, dirty littlesecret. And even had when I was
going to move in with my nowhusband, I had this moment with a

(08:31):
friend where I started ranting and ravingabout the pink tiles in the bathroom during
I showed up for a singing lessonwith her because we were trading speaking for
singing, and I remember standing inher space and just like going off on
how it was impossible to match pinktiles, and she just looked at me
and went, this is so notabout the tiles, and then she was

(08:56):
like, there are gazillion ways tomatch the their pink in a bathroom.
This is about something else. Andnow like I wear pale pink sweaters and
pants and shoes, I love thepink tiles in the bathroom. If we
ever move anywhere else, I'm probablygonna put pink tiles, super super pale
pink. That's a oh. AndI love Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Ooh,

(09:20):
Okay, that's like a blast,Like I haven't watched those shows in
such a long time. Like I'mlike, is that also the same era
is Charmed? I think it's aroundthe same era, like somewhere in the
in the nineties. Okay, yeah, because I did, I watch probably
more Charmed than Buffy. But Idid watch Buffy. I wan't even remember

(09:43):
it right now, man, Icould, I could just derail the whole
podcast. It's like it's like aleadership thing. There's Buffy, she's the
hero type, and I've I've donebranding through archetypes, and it explains why
I used to say, like I'mkind of a Buffy, but really I'm

(10:03):
kind of a combination of Buffy andWillow. Okay, and I did my
archetypes, and I'm a hero magicianor hero alchemist. I'm actually alchemists first,
so I'm now like more Willow thanBuffy. But everything you need to
know about leadership is in the showBuffy. All right, It's awesome,

(10:24):
it's your next keynote presentation exactly.Yeah, oh that's awesome. Okay.
So what I'm curious about is,so you spent time in acting classes and
acting and you even mentioned singing,which I didn't realize or I didn't remember
if you had told me, iswhy, like do you still do those

(10:46):
things and why switch more into speakingand helping soulful visionaries find their voice.
Yeah, I still act. Thesinging was to express myself. My mother
passed away in twenty fifteen, andabout six months after she passed away,

(11:07):
I was teaching a theater class andI brought in a play that I had
written for them to do cold readings, so they're not supposed to have ever
seen the script, and I justhad this intuitive Okay, I'll use my
script because there's no way they couldhave seen it, so everybody will be
on a level playing field. Andit was a play called risk Factor,

(11:28):
who was all about love. AndI was single at that point, and
I was sitting there very much likein the awareness zone, feeling myself kind
of heat and thaw from the insideout while holding this like I am the
teacher right now and I'm having likesome kind of burning fiery coming back to

(11:52):
Life awakening and came away from thatand went My theme for twenty six teen
was Carpe a DM, and Iwas like, I hadn't acted in five
years, and that was an accident. I never It wasn't like I made
an empowered choice to take a break. So I started speed dating and I

(12:13):
went and did an audition. AndI also reached out to my friend who
was a singing instructor, and said, I just have this intuitive urge to
like sing as part of this Carpea DM come back to life thing.
So we traded performance coaching for singing, so I don't do it regularly like

(12:35):
I was when I was meeting withher every two weeks. And I still
remember everything we did. And I'vehad to sing a couple of times in
plays, not musicals, but justlike characters are like singing, humming to
themselves on stage, or singing theFrench national anthem or things like that.

(12:58):
Acting I do still do because Ilove it. I also, you know,
it works really well with my speakingbecause it's like it teaches me or
reminds me of things that I'm doingmyself as a speaker and with others as
speakers. So why then working withyou know, and pass and visionary souls.

(13:22):
Why did you want to then movefrom speaking and singing and acting or
acting into this role. Yeah,it took a while for it to crystallize.
And I remember a moment when Iwas teaching theater twelve somewhere. I

(13:43):
had already kind of started my business, but it was very much like I'm
life coaching and then I'm also anacting teacher. And I had had a
best of times, worst of timeswith students one year, and then the
next year I started owning really myway of teaching instead of trying to imitate

(14:05):
others, and I stumbled onto acoaching program, and then I got a
phone call that the budget had beenslashed and I was going to be teaching
a class that was twice as bigbecause it was two years all at the
same time, everyone who had beenin the stormy best of times, worst

(14:26):
of times the year before, andthe newbies coming in, and from day
one I started out and I reallyowned my intuitive way of teaching. And
by the end of that quarter,I was watching all of the students,
some of whom had flat out saidthey hated my class the year before,

(14:50):
and there was like a mean girlsenvironment. Going on a year later,
I was watching them all warming up. They hadn't even started acting yet.
They were just like moving and makingsound, and I was sitting in the
corner with tears in my eyes,and I had the thought, this is
so amazing. I want more.And then the next thought was this shouldn't

(15:11):
just be for actors anymore. Andpretty quickly and over the course of time
it became more and more fine tuned. I started out saying that I worked
with emerging leaders, and then overthe course of many years, I realized
there were reluctant leaders. Some ofthem saw themselves as leaders and some of

(15:33):
them didn't. And then probably abouta month month and a half ago,
maybe two months ago, the sensitive, visionary, ambitious, EmPATH and loving
rebels like that just came in likea download, and I was like,
I knew, I know I'm anEmPATH, and I know a lot of

(15:54):
my clients are empaths, but EmPATHis not a word that everyone knows.
So having like three ways of sayingif you've got this like seemingly visionary and
sensitive, ambitious, and EmPATH,it's like it's a really kind of unique
combination in our world and all threeof those things would describe me. And

(16:15):
when I looked back over the courseof fifteen years, I was like,
Yep, the clients where it wasan absolutely magical fit fall into that category.
So pulling back into when I waslike starting the podcast and I was
sharing a bit about my journey withsome of the like brow marketing and then

(16:38):
the bro speaking, I'd love tojust dive into this, and right now
I don't really fully know a questionto ask, but I would love to
just have a conversation around this because, like I said, that was one
of the things that really drew meto you and having a conversation because coming
from the training that I had,and I think, how about this,

(17:02):
I'll just share a bit and thenyou can speak in and fill and we'll
just go because I feel like Ihad a great experience in so many ways.
But at the same time, whereI was at in my journey,
some of the things that I waslearning really oh, like I don't know,
I felt like I had to likefit a mold and I didn't know
any better, and so like Itried to fit the mold and realized that

(17:25):
the mold wasn't really for me,and also wanted to be a great I
wanted to be a sage on thestage, even though I knew that era
had passed. Like I really myego really craved being an expert at being
out there and being seen and heard. And at the same time, I
was in my twenties and I eventurned thirty during one of the National Speakers
Association meetings that I flew to SanDiego four and there are so many things

(17:49):
that crushed me there where I wasin tears so many times because so many
people were talking about like how theymade it and they were so wonderful and
amazing, and I just felt like, you don't know what the hell I'm
doing, you know, like Ihave this dream, whatever keeps telling me
I'm just this little girl who doesn'tknow what she's doing, whether they said
it indirectly or not. So it'sjust I've seen a lot from like the

(18:10):
keynote and from the glitz and glamourand from the your somebody because you have
these awards and I don't know,And it just didn't realize there was another
way of doing Let me say this, I knew there was another way of
doing it, it just hadn't comeinto it. Yeah. I coined a
phrase again channeling something when I wasabout to shoot alive. It was called

(18:34):
goodbye industrial speaking. That's the newestI forgot what it was that you called
it. Okay, yeah, Andand I've been thinking about that, and
you know, thinking that feels likeI hit on something with the intuitive blurt.
A lot of the speaker training programsout there have been around for a

(18:59):
really long time. They've been aroundsince the Industrial Age, where the leaders
that they were trying to train inthose bro speaking places or managers on factory
floors where they needed them all tosound the same look, the same represent
the just like you know, thecogs that they're putting in the cars in

(19:22):
the factory. And there is somegood stuff over there, some structures and
things that work for some people.What's missing is that it's like you want
to build your one of a kindcar of you, not a Ford Fiesta
version. So it rubs a lotof my clients. It's like it never

(19:48):
feels aligned because it can't ever fullyfeel aligned. And the way that those
other programs are run most of thetime is that in the training that you're
getting, it's like someone presents aone size fits all idea and then tells
you to go out and do it. There's no one who's watching you and

(20:11):
working with you the way athletic coachesand acting coaches work with people. They
don't just show a video of StephCurry shooting and tell everybody who's ten years
old playing basketball to do that.Somebody watches and says, hey, there
are some things in Steph Curry's formthat you might want to look at,

(20:32):
And here's where you're off. Oryour shoulder joint is different than steps,
so you need to make a littleadjustment. And for speakers, I feel
like I'm one of the people whowas born in this era because we're not
in the industrial era anymore. Everysingle person is charismatic in their own unique

(20:56):
way, just like all of ourfinger prints are different. So I like
to think of words like recipes,like there might be some recipes that you
learned in your past that work foryou exactly as they were given to you.
There might be some recipes where yougo, I'm going to throw out
ninety percent of that recipe, butten percent of that one works for me.

(21:19):
And I even feel like some ofthe things that I give they're my
recipes, and I'm like, thisis a starting point for you to work
from, particularly when it comes tocontent. It's like, I've got a
recipe, let's start there, andthen you can adjust it and put in
more chocolate chips if that's what worksfor you. You know. Earlier today

(21:41):
I recorded another podcast episode, andactually her episode came out a few before
this, and I was telling her. I was like, oh, I'm
so excited because I'm speaking to Laurieand we're talking about soulful speaking and she's
an intuitive as well, and shewas like, oh my god, this
sounds so amazing. It sounds likewhat she's doing is helping people move from
speaking from the head down into speakingfrom the heart and the soul. And

(22:07):
in what you were just sharing,do you feel that some of those industrial
speaking formats, I don't know,whatever the word is, like those ways
or more from the head? Isthat what you're like? Do you see
the I do or I do feellike they're way more from the head because
they're rigid and one size fits all, and they are a lot about content.

(22:33):
In my little so I've I wentto some of those places, part
for myself and part looking for clients. And I saw myself exclusively as the
presence person in the beginning, SoI was going looking for give me,
give me the structure, give methe content, because it's so rigid and
structure based, and we're talking aboutthe content, not the actual standing on

(22:57):
stage and doing the livery, whichrequires your body. Most speakers who come
from there, it's very heavy,disconnected, no awareness of the body,
the heart, the energy. Somespeakers who come from there happen to maintain

(23:18):
that it's like a crapshoot because noone It's like having theater where you only
have the writers in the room andlike you're getting an AI to show up
and try to perform it or somethinglike that. In theater, there's a
writer and then there's an actor whoembodies it and brings it to life,

(23:41):
and then there's also a director.And particularly when I started fifteen years ago,
I was like, everybody's just talkingabout what people are going to say,
who's helping them with how they getup and do it, and what
their body is doing. And ifyour body is betraying you, why is

(24:04):
your body betraying you? And oneof the number one shifts, particularly when
I work in groups, is someonewill speak, and I'll coach them,
giving them individual attention, and peoplewill go, I understood you the first
time, and they'll point to theirhead for those of you just listening to

(24:25):
audio, and then the second timethey'll say something like I got you,
and they'll point to their heart ortheir gut or both, and they don't
always realize they're doing it. Andthen I'll say, I'm just going to
point out that they were saying theyunderstood you and pointed to their head,
and the second time they felt youin their heart and in their body,

(24:47):
and that is because you were comingfrom your heart and you were in your
body, and it's like that's almostshift number one. And then EVENTU leave
from being able to be in yourbody and heart connected to the audience,
then it can become more like anexperience of channeling where you're in front of

(25:10):
five thousand people and some of theways that things are coming out of your
mouth are slightly different than they everhave been before because your intuition is really
firing and you're picking up on what'sin the space, what that audience needs
on that day in order to reallyfeel and stay with you and your magic

(25:33):
and your message there's a couple reflectionsthat are coming up, and this is
all based on my experience, LikeI'm not an expert in the NSA world
or nor can I even really speakto what may be present to other people
with their perceptions. So as Iwas hearing you talk, there's something that
really stands out to me because inall the training I went to is I

(25:56):
feel like some of the things Iwent to were a little bit more comprehensive
than maybe some of the more likehardcore industrial ways of doing it. I
still don't feel like they offered whatyou're talking about of really coming into the
body. Now. I say allthat because when you talk about like where
to stand and how to deliver andwhatnot, I feel like there was quite

(26:17):
a bit of emphasis of what Iwas exposed to for a keynote speaker,
because the keynote speaker is delivering astory sometimes fifty one hundred times, and
I would think that that would bemore like an acting type of role where
you're honing on on your story andto make the most impact, your voice
goes up here and then you pausethis way and you stand over here on

(26:40):
the stage. Like I remember sittingin NSA trainings, or someone delivered their
keynote that was based on this storybecause they were like a fire, like
some kind of a jet fighter.The first woman, like her story is
amazing. She's an excellent keynote speakerfrom what I was, you know,
like and then she would do herkeynote and then she would break it down.
Okay, I did this here,and I stood here, and I

(27:02):
moved over here. So I feellike there's just different ways of speaking.
Where there's the keynoe, and thenthere's breakouts, and then there's seminars,
and then there's full day Tony Robbinstype stuff. Like, there's so many
different styles. Don't specifically have aquestion, but I'm just sharing to see
what comes up. Yeah, yeah, you made me flash on a couple

(27:23):
of different memories and thoughts. Evenin theater, there are directors who are
more outside in directors, and I'mmore of an actor's director when I direct,
And this is a lot of whatI'm like as a speaking coach.
It's more of an inside out.So in my bio it said, I

(27:47):
see the soul underneath the static.I'll go backwards in time, or I'll
bounce all around. I directed aplay, let's say five to seven years
ago at the same time as acolleague directing a play, and some of
the students went to see both ofthem and came back and said, we

(28:07):
could tell who directed it even ifwe didn't know. In the other play,
it was very crafted, you know, the direction was great, like
where you're asking the actors to moveon the stage in order to help tell
the story. And yet in yourversion, the actors seemed vibrant and alive

(28:29):
from head to toe. And myprocess isn't to show up to rehearsal and
have all the blocking predetermined. Ifyou're really far in the outside in direction,
the directors literally show up and they'vealready blocked the show, so they
just tell the actors where to moveon what lines, And the actors spent
forever, some of them, tryingto inhabit that and make it feel organic

(28:53):
and feel alive. And now I'llflash back in time. I remember a
director when I was nineteen years oldin undergrad a movement instructor, saying she
can always tell when it was thedirector's idea for someone to move somewhere,
because they never fully look alive doingit. In my way of working,

(29:18):
I show up and I'm like,okay, let's run the scene on its
feet and see what happens. Andsomething happens that feels like it is alive
for the actors and it tells thestory. I go, pause, we're
going to keep that one, sodo it again to get that version into

(29:38):
your bodies. And that's very muchhow I work with speakers. Let's get
you alive. And then it's like, to me, it just feels easier.
Ninety percent of the work is donewhen the actors or the speakers are
vibrant and alive from him and comingfrom their intuition. And then there's like

(30:00):
ten percent of some fine tuning shapingwhere I go, let's keep this version
that you just did instead of Iwant you to walk over here on this
because that means blah blah blah blahto the audience. It never worked for
me or when I was younger,I was one of those people who couldn't

(30:22):
inhabit the outside in ideas from yourrender. I have learned to do that
now. I'm I'm fifty one yearsold. When I was twenty five,
I was not very good at that. Like I even used to like inside
be rolling my eyes when they wouldgo can you laugh on that line?

(30:44):
And then like in my thirties,at one point someone said someone who knew
me a director, was like,I know you hate this, but can
you just try laughing? And Isaid absolutely, and I tried it and
something unlocked, and I'm like,well, I've shifted a little, like
I'm aware we're in rehearsals. Ifit doesn't work, when I give your

(31:06):
outside in direction my all, wecan say, Okay, that didn't work,
Let's try another way. You know. One thing I'm feeling really called
to have you define here is yes, like how my questions have been and
based on my training from National SpeakersAssociation and wanting to speak, I would
love for you to define because Ifeel like it has multiple entry points.

(31:30):
Define speaker, What does speaker meanwith the work that you do? Because
I feel like what I'm talking aboutis one dimension of it, and there's
other aspects of people that may feellike, well, I don't want to
do that, yet they would bea perfect like yeah, person to do
that's a great question. Speaker isprobably somebody who gives a speech, gives

(31:57):
a talk, does podcasts, maybeleads breakouts, maybe facilitates all day events.
I'm going to go over to actingagain. There are actors who are
leading men or women who kind ofplay one type of character. There are

(32:19):
comedians, There are actors who mostlydo comedy. There are actors on sitcoms.
There are actors in movies. Thereare stage actors, there are film
actors. There are television and commercialactors. So there's a huge amount of
variety in both. My mind wantsto say the word messenger right now.

(32:42):
I think there's an old guard ofspeakers where it's more about entertainment, and
then there are messengers, and thenthere are transformative speakers. I'm not so
interested in the speakers that are speakingfor entertainment purely. That doesn't mean you

(33:04):
won't give a talk that's entertaining.And I was this way as an actor.
Also. I like the really juicyroles and the juicy plays where people
leave and they're talking about the productionthat they just saw at least for a
couple hours, if not weeks,because it touched on something that's a human
truth, not just let's entertain.Although right after COVID, all we in

(33:30):
the theater wanted to do was like, let's get back in and entertain people
because that is what is transformational.Right now, speakers that are messengers or
transformative speakers are tapping into things abouthumanity that's different. So I hope that

(33:51):
helps because I'm what I'm thinking isI'm like, Okay, I know there
are people who listen, who arelistening to this, who have watching,
who have a story or have thislike calling to share their message to share,
and I'm just like, for me, all of them are kind of
coming together because traditionally, when wesay certain words, they elicit certain ideas.

(34:17):
Yeah, oh oh, I don'twant to be a speaker. Yeah,
and they may not want to bea speaker. But at the same
time, if you're sitting on apodcast like this, sharing your message on
video or you're doing videos for socialmedia or whatever it may be, yeah,
I would say that that qualifies asspeaking and it's more about you know

(34:39):
that what you're saying like someone whohas a message that they want to make
an impact. And my brain whenwe first connected was like, oh,
I knew there was a different wayto do the speaking that I chased in
the past. It wasn't really onmy radar to fully get back in because

(35:00):
I wasn't like, oh, Iwant to get back speaking again, like
I'm kind of interested, but like, I don't know. I just feel
like I was so burnt from somany of those things, burnt out and
burnt not because people, as incase one of them are listening or watching.
It's not because the people burnt me. It's just that wasn't my path
and it just burnt me like somuch. And so in the work that

(35:21):
we've done together in the short periodof time, I've already I can see
the massive improvements and I haven't evenspoke like trying to get a speaking thing
or whatever. I haven't done that, but I'm obviously sharing a message in
so many other ways, talking topeople hello, just the conversations slowing no

(35:42):
more, Like there are so manyimpacts on this work. Yeah, of
course I feel like everybody needs this, but I also know, like,
yeah, well that's I mean,when I had that moment in the theater
and I was like, this shouldn'tjust be for actors anymore. I think
I remember feeling like the whole planetdeserves this, and then some wise people

(36:04):
were like, okay, but youcan't work with the whole planet and marketing
to the whole planet doesn't work.So I got called to leaders or visionaries
and one thing I will say,and I'm going to say it this time.
If you are a sensitive visionary,an ambitious EmPATH, or a loving

(36:29):
rebel, we need to have threetraits, have or develop three traits that
not everyone does and not everyone needsto. We need to have a vision
or a dream of how we wantthe world or our world to be different
in some way. We need tobe able to navigate creatively from the present

(36:52):
that we're in toward making that visionor that dream real. And the third
thing is we need to be ableto communicate that dream in a way that
inspires others and calls them forth tojoin us on the journey to making it
real. So if you see yourselfas a rebel, that's why sometimes people

(37:15):
are like, do you work exclusivelywith corporate Do you work exclusively with sulpreneurs?
Not exclusively. Many of my clientsare small business owners, sulpreneurs.
What all of my clients have incommon is there on some kind of a
mission. So some of them areincorporate and they feel like the loving rebel.

(37:37):
There's like they want to shake upthe system from within, and they
don't look like I'm just going tocollect my paycheck. It's like you can
feel that there's a mission there atthis time in their life. They're changing
it from within a corporate system,all loving, rebel, ambitious EmPATH.

(37:58):
If you're wanting to create some changein the world, you need to be
able to share your message, shareyour magic, communicate from a heart centered,
inspiration centered place. Otherwise you can'tget as much done during your lifetime.
So you need to speak yeah.And some of that speaking is like

(38:20):
I'm sitting around a boardroom table withtwelve other people trying to get them to
understand my radical idea because I'm seeinga thing that no one else in the
room has grocked yet. So youhave to say it and say it again
and say it again until eventually theroom goes oh. Because you're you're creating

(38:43):
a paradigm shift with the things thatyou're seeing and saying yeah, yeah and
two. Even in that in thatenvironment, if we're speaking head to head
to match the current energy, likewhat you're talking about, the paradigm shift,
like the leader, the hacked,something else has got to change and
it's not like you're going to announcelike I'm going to speak from the soul

(39:07):
to change you. It's not likeyou're just speaking differently, because I know.
One of the big things that Ilearned and I'm still noticing and practicing
is when I'm speaking more from thethroat and there's like a force there and
I think I'm even borderline on itright now because i can feel it a
bit. There's this breathing that carryyou already, there's a shift there like

(39:34):
that carry you and for me too, coming out of that performative nature.
If I'm performing because I want theapproval or i want people to respect what
I'm saying, it's like there's adifferent way to get there. Yeah,
And sometimes the words that you saywill also shift when you make that body,

(40:01):
breath energy shift, and sometimes theydon't. So it's not as if
the mind's over there that need tohear you with their mind can't still hear
it. But something else is happeningthat they may not be aware of,

(40:22):
but it's impacting them differently. It'slike subconsciously they're more open to your ideas.
There are times where clients, clientsand me say something and the room
kind of m or like they're justit's like I'm speaking a different language.

(40:44):
But it stays with the people wholistened, and then they come back and
say, I was thinking about thatthing that you said in the meeting because
it hits them differently. And inspeakers, it's it's speakers, leaders,
visionaries, ambush, simple, allthose people. It's trickier because it's like
the words might also shift when youdrop into your body in a different way.

(41:07):
In the theater, it can bemore clear because it's like you you
gave me a script. I'm playinga doctor in a concentration camp. I
have the exact same words, butwhen I really get it, it feels
different. Even though it's the exactsame words. I'm embodying it differently.

(41:30):
I'm breathing life into it differently.I'm holding the energy of the space differently.
Yeah, yeah, you know,I'm I think there's there's two things
that I'm feeling like will help tojust finalize this chat with you. Okay,
So the first thing is I wantto talk a little bit about how

(41:53):
to work with you and share abit about my experience and kind of talk
about that a little bit more andwhat you have coming. And then the
other thing like to kind of closeit off is and it doesn't have to
be this one. It could bewhatever one you feel like it's best.
But I just feel like for methe whole feeling the difference and speaking more

(42:14):
from the throat versus letting the breathgo. And I know, like what
you do with the s's and disease. I don't know if that's something that
we do to close it off,or if there's something else that would be
really beneficial just to help people likego, holy crap, there's a whole
other way of doing this and justexperiencing that would be good. So that's
what I'm thinking. I gave yousomething like a little bit of heads up,

(42:37):
so one thing I was gonna say, as far as like working with
you, you know, it's interestingto me with how online we are,
even with me, I still getpeople being like, well, I don't
I'm not where you are. Idon't think of all my acashic record readings
like any of them besides my husband, have been in person. So saying

(42:58):
that we've we've worked as I've beena nomad all virtually on zoom, which
I know is one of the aspects. But like how do you actually make
these impacts because any of the otherspeaking stuff I went to before I was
in person. I was like physicallyat these seminars and physically at these events,
Like what does that look like foryou? Yeah? I like to
say I've been working on Zoom sincebefore it was popular, which was really

(43:23):
nice. In twenty twenty, Iused to have in my contracts that people
needed to try working with me onZoom twice, like I did some work
in person, and I requested thateverybody try in person twice and Zoom twice.
And really I had been working withpeople since somewhere in the twenty teens,

(43:45):
more online than in person because theclients, the ambitious empaths, loving
rebels, sensitive visionaries, were allover the world. So we did it
that way. So now I'm bringingback some in person I work with some
people exclusively on Zoom, and I'mgoing to start to bring back some in

(44:06):
person events so that we can doreally juicy things in person. I love
working in groups, a different kindof group than the bro speaking modeled modeled
after theater master classes. So Ijust recently, as you know, created

(44:27):
something called the Speakers Studio modeled insome ways after the Actor's Studio, and
I chose the name because of that. I grew up watching inside the actor's
studio, and as I mentioned alittle bit earlier, I also had huge
breakthroughs and got catapulted to the methat I am now in the sideways studio

(44:47):
in San Francisco. Acting master classesare small, intimate groups, enough so
that your body is processing that thereis a group rather than just working with
someone one on one, which thenmakes the leap to speaking in front of
whatever size crowd up to tens ofthousands easier to do in that vibrant,

(45:14):
alive, open hearted way. Andyou also do some learning and get some
AHAs from watching other people in thegroup go through similar things to what you
are going through. We're raised ina world that is asking us to suppress

(45:35):
our emotions, to suppress our uniquelife force, and then to kind of
put on the masks of how wethink the world wants us to be,
Like I need to look smart,I need to be happy. I need
to be an extrovert, so Ihave to have a very extroverted energy.

(45:57):
This is not that this is theplace to take off all those masks and
figure out how to show up asus and have the impact that only we
can have. And so you're goingto be doing the speaker studio both in
person and online. You were saying, Yeah, the full studio has a
combination where we meet on a regularbasis to practice what we're learning on zoom

(46:24):
in small groups nine people or lessin my groups per circle. And then
there will be mini retreat things wherewe come together in person. And I'm
flirting with the idea of also allowingpeople to zoom in, and I'm not
exactly sure how that will be handledto have the like now you get the

(46:45):
time to play with the basketball part, So some mini retreats where we all
come together physically in the same spaceand play together in the same space.
And part of it is because thereare somethings that are juicier that way,
but we don't need to do itall the time every single week that way.

(47:07):
And speaking is happening in person now, so it's a good idea.
There's a lot happening on zoom andthere are a lot of speaking opportunities coming
up for people that require going backin person. And if you are a
sensitive, visionary and ambitious EmPATH ora loving rebel, your system, body,

(47:29):
heart, energy, soul is goingto experience that in a radically different
way, just like film acting isradically different from stage acting. So it's
having the opportunity to practice all thethings. Yeah, it's so true as
you say that, it reminds meof one of the things that you taught

(47:51):
me because we worked one on onetogether for such a short period of time
two months. It was a littleless than two more about two months,
right, and so we worked togetherand that dramatically changed. And then I've
started to be involved in some ofthe group things and they're just as impactful.
Of course, when you have theone on one, you get all
the time and all the energy andeverything, and it can move things quicker,

(48:12):
but not but and the group stuff. One of the things that continues
to stick out with me and speaksto that difference you're talking about is like
you always talk about hugging the roomand hugging the room in person, because
I haven't done in person speaking ina long time besides chatting at a coffee
shop with somebody, right and zoomspeaking are quite different because all I have

(48:37):
to focus on here is make sureI'm not too wiggly in my chair and
I can stand here and ground myself. But also remembering you talk about the
whole two D like this is atwo D platform you just be like through
the screen like more so, yes, there are definitely different yea. And
for us to remember that, let'sjust say that, for us to remember

(49:00):
that, yeah, yeah, isit time to do yes, nothing so
they can feel it. So Idon't know exactly where this is going to
go, but here's it's one ofmy favorite ways to do it because it
also brings in my love of chocolateand your love of whatever treats you like.
So we're both going to do it, and anybody listening to this or

(49:22):
watching this later, I invite youto try it in your body. Are
they do they? Is it okayif they're driving? Or do they need
to Maybe at least this first partshould be easy. So exhale all of
your air. We're going to exhaleall of our air, and then we're
going to say our favorite dessert andfeel how that is, how dark chocolate

(49:45):
ice cream? That was, asJenny mentioned earlier, kind of like coming
from the throat rather than having thebreath go through the whole body. Now
we're going to try a slightly differentone. We're going to take a really
shallow breath dark chocolate ice cream.Now we're actually gonna inhale and fill our

(50:09):
body up, like filling a gastank before a road trip. Dark chocolate
ice cream. I just feel likeit's easier to do that, Like I
feel so constructed in the other twoways, Like I feel like I'm just
doing the task and I help myself. But like, yeah, yeah,

(50:34):
and so the reason we're going throughthese for people listening is that I mentioned
it's like we've been raised to speakfrom a voice of suppression. People have
said, don't be too big,don't be too much, don't take up
too much space, don't be tooemotional. And the way we don't be
too all those things, especially emotional, is we suppress our breathing dark chocolate

(50:59):
and use some of the same musclesthat are suppressing to try to get the
voice to cross a space. Yeah, and too. Like in the experience
of that for me, even thoughwe've done versions of this with you,
like here in the moment, thething is is like you're exactly right about
the suppression. Of course I'm notsaying you witnam in, but like how

(51:22):
I just felt like I'm watching Ijust she's making me do this. I
don't know, whatever stupid stuff's goingon in our heads. That's not you
know, like you're like, oh, what am I doing? And then
with that one, there is alevel of vulnerability because I knew. I
was like, oh, I feelwhere this is going, and I really
just want to be like my icecream and I want to move. But
there's vulnerability to showing up in adifferent way. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

(51:49):
And so it's helpful to do likethis stuff that we're doing with the
body and the breath. We're mostlyfocused on breath, and yet when we
breathe, something happens with the body, and something happens energetically as well.
If we set an intention for whatwe want for the audience, that gets

(52:12):
us out of like, oh mygod, they're going to watch me be
all vulnerable when I'm saying dark chocolateessential, right, all right, So
it's still vulnerable, and it becomessort of vulnerable with a point to it.
And then in the course of whatevermessage we're delivering, the images that
come out of us, whether it'sdark chocolate ice cream, a CFO rattling

(52:37):
off numbers in an earnings call,somebody talking about you know how many people
marched on Washington when Marcat Jr.Gave his speech. Those are all images.
Treat nature our images. So ifwe've set an intention and then we

(53:00):
start doing this more vulnerable way ofspeaking where we can feel the dark chocolate
or see feel the wind in thetrees as we're talking about them, and
then we invite the audience to comealong for the ride with us, then
it still feels vulnerable, but vulnerablewith a point, and vulnerable focused on

(53:21):
the transformation of the people in theroom really works for those change makers,
rebels, ambitious empaths, and sensitivevisionaries. It might not work for somebody
who just wants to entertain, andI'm okay with that. They can go
hire an entertainment focused speaking coach andbe in full alignment with them. Yeah,

(53:45):
I mean that's you know. Ithink for me, this conversation is
to help create awareness of another wayof doing things. And so my intention
of this conversation is too. Forthose who are like resonating or those who
are really like feel something inside right, their intuition is talk to them or

(54:07):
they're like wow and like something's pingingright, like, oh, like,
my invitation with this podcast is tojust follow that, whether it's hiring Laurie
now or not, just just isnot the greatest word, or joining your
email list or whatever it is,to be in this conversation, to realize

(54:27):
that there is a more impactful,like powerful way for you to show up
and still be yourself and not haveto fit a mold or feel like you
have to fit a mold, youknow, the like, oh, you
have to do keynotes this way,or you have to do something that way
just because you've seen others do itthat way who are successful. Just because

(54:49):
Tony Robbins speaks a certain way doesn'tmean that's the way you have to speak.
And I think sometimes we do thatbecause we see success and think that
our success has to come the sameway. What if you're able to how
does Laurie say it, own yourwacky wildness whatever that is where you can
just feel so comfortable and who youare. And this, this this work

(55:14):
with Lorie has impacted me, LikeI've shared a bit, It's impacted me
in ways that I didn't really evenrealize to be able to make that impact.
Like one of the very first thingswe worked on was when I'm sharing
channeled messages and before I would kindof like some of the ones I posted
early on because I was like,oh, I gotta get through it fast

(55:35):
because people are busy, and Idon't know, like I gotta say it
quick, and I was feeling aways about it, and I had run
of those masks on and didn't realize, just like the ice cream or the
dark chocolate, Like didn't realize thatI could have a sensuality about that experience,
because really, ultimately a channeled messageis not about me, it's about

(56:00):
of the message. M H,yeah, beautiful. Is there anything that
we haven't covered or that you wouldlike to add or that you feel like
is a good anything else that youwant to share. I had a bunch
of thoughts come in and then they'veall left. M M. To really

(56:24):
get a little bit what we're talkingabout with the like you can do it
your way. Imagine a couple ofdifferent things. One of my favorites is
imagine Martin Luther King juniors. Ihave a dream speech, and now imagine
that instead of being shared by MartinLuther King Jr. It's being shared by

(56:45):
Richard Nixon. Or imagine it's beingshared by me or Jenny or Tony Robbins.
Nixon is kind of the least ableto be able to deliver that message
with any kind of power. Therest of us are all, I like
to think, pretty charismatic. Jennyis very charismatic. If she got up

(57:07):
and gave the eye have a dreamspeech, it would be very different than
how Martin Luther King Junior did it. So by giving you a bunch of
different people, Barack Obama, RonaldReagan, a former actor who then became
a speaker, very different types ofcharisma, very different types. So when

(57:29):
I say there's seven point nine billiondifferent, I mean you two listener.
Yeah, I love that. SoI've been I've had scrolling here on YouTube
like how people can connect with you, but from a audio perspective, an
audio perspective. Where would be thebest place, Like where do you like

(57:50):
to connect with people or where doyou want them to go for more?
Yeah, my website is the bestplace to find more. Dub dub dub
dot Voice, dashmatters dot com,the speaker studio is there. There are
an events if you go to speakersDash, you know voicematters dot com,
slash, speakers Dash studio. There'san events page if you want to come.

(58:15):
August thirtieth, I have an authenticspeaking play shop. If you want
to come check out this way ofworking in a group, you can book
a one on one and if youlove all the socials, scroll to the
bottom of the page. And I'mon Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn right now,
and come join me. I'm gonnabe I'm gonna be in speaker studio

(58:38):
as well, so come join me. I'd love to be there alongside of
you and help sharing you on aswe really step into our power even more
and get our messages out there.Only if you feel called, Only if
you feel called. No forcing justto take just because you love me and
you want to hang out with me. Don't just going for that reason.
Make sure it's aligned with Jenny.Well, you want to be with Jenny

(59:00):
and Laurie and you want to learnall of this stuff. So oh,
that's so funny. I don't evenknow where that came from. That was
fun. That's cool. That's usuallyhow I feel. The like heart centered
way of asking is like it includeslike part I want this for you,
like I want you out there listenerto come join the thing and part like

(59:22):
it would be so cool because Iwould get to play with you. And
then the soul way of asking ispart of what you just did. It's
like the heart's like it would beso awesome, and then the soul steps
in and goes, if it's aligned, Yeah, I'm inviting and I'm releasing
attachment to you. Coming if it'saligned and if it is the time for
you right now, totally. Well, thank you Laurie for spending your time

(59:45):
with us today. I'm so gratefulyou came on to share this amazingness with
the world and invite more people intothis way. I know that anytime I'm
going to be talking to anyone whowants to speak or oh I've thought about
speaking, I'm going to be sharinga link to this podcast. Like,
hey, as you're looking for whata lines with you, you gotta at
least listen to this other way,because you know, you can hop into

(01:00:07):
the Toastmasters and the CARNEGIESE and whatever, and those are cool, but maybe
there's another direction you may want tochoose. Thank you, thank you so
much for having me. Of course, by everyone, Hey, don't go
yet. If you're looking to continuethe conversation and to hang out with me
outside of the podcast, and youwant to connect on social or you want

(01:00:29):
to receive free weekly channeled messages fromthe Acoshic Records or booking, Akoshic Record
reading, or anything else outside ofthe podcast, make sure you head to
the life adventurest dot com and allthe links and all the things will be
there for you. Make sure yousubscribe to the Life Ventures podcast on your
favorite podcast trimming app. Thank youso much for tuning in and I'll see

(01:00:51):
you on the next episode.